The sky is still blue. Trees are still green. Wind still blows. Clouds are still white and fluffy. Rain still pours from the sky. Snow falls and it still gets really cold sometimes in some places. Earth is still beautiful.

So what is the problem? What is the fuss about climate change and global warming?

Well, after observing and making lots of measurements, using lots of NASA satellites and special instruments, scientists see some alarming changes. These changes are happening fast—much faster than these kinds of changes have happened in Earth’s long past.

Global air temperatures near Earth’s surface rose almost one and one-half degrees Fahrenheit in the last century. Eleven of the last 12 years have been the warmest on record. Earth has warmed twice as fast in the last 50 years as in the 50 years before that.

One and one-half degrees may not seem like much. But when we are talking about the average over the whole Earth, lots of things start to change.

Life is a web, with every strand connected to every other strand. One species of plant or animal changes, and a whole chain of events can follow involving many other species.

For example, herds of caribou live in cold, Arctic locations. Caribou hate mosquitoes. In the past few years, warmer temperatures in summer have allowed mosquito populations to explode. So the caribou spend a lot more energy swatting away the mosquitoes. All this swatting leaves the caribou less energy to find food and prepare for the next long winter. Female caribou are especially troubled because it takes so much energy to give birth and raise their young.

Animals that hibernate in the winter also suffer from warming temperatures. Marmots, chipmunks, and bears are waking up as much as a month early. Some are not hibernating at all. These animals can starve if they stay awake all winter, because they can’t find enough food. If they wake up too early because it feels warm enough to be spring, the days may not yet be long enough to signal the plants to start their spring growth. So, again, the wakeful animals go hungry.

Burning fossil fuels increases the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. There are two ways to reduce fossil fuel use: Use less energy, or use alternative, nonpolluting energy sources like solar and wind power. At home, this translates to saving electricity by using energy-efficient appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs, as well as reducing gasoline use and buying green power from your electricity provider, if available

Plant Trees

Because carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas, planting trees and other plants can slow or stop global warming. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. They use carbon to build their own tissues and return some of it to the soil in a process called sequestration. Deforestation of rain forests is a large contributor to global warming and CO2 emissions, but planting new trees, even in your own backyard, can help to offset this.

Reduce Waste

The production of garbage contributes to global warming both directly and indirectly. Decomposing waste in landfills produces methane and other greenhouse gases. Waste also requires energy to manufacture in the first place. Reducing your consumption patterns and reusing items whenever possible minimizes your carbon footprint, since fewer new items need to be made. Recycling metal, plastic, glass and paper lowers greenhouse gas emissions, since recycled items take far less energy to manufacture than items produced from scratch.

Conserve Water

Cities consume significant amounts of energy when purifying and distributing water, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Saving water reduces the amount of energy used. At home, turn off water immediately whenever you’re not using it, and repair or replace leaky faucets and toilets. In your yard, landscape with plants and grasses that require less water, and capture rainwater in barrels for irrigating.

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